Russia imposes sanctions against 32 citizens of New Zealand, including representatives of the command of the armed forces and journalists. This is reported by TASS with reference to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

All those on the list are denied entry to Russia on an indefinite basis.

The sanctions are in response to New Zealand's restrictions on Russian companies that were introduced earlier due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In June, New Zealand imposed new sanctions against 44 companies from Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine, including Gazprom and six Belarusian defense enterprises. Foreign Minister of the country Nanaya Makhuta reported that the companies that fell under the sanctions are controlled by the government of Vladimir Putin and are of strategic importance for Russia, as they provide it with raw materials, infrastructure, communications, transport and weapons. On May 11, New Zealand authorities imposed sanctions against eight more Russian citizens and organizations responsible for spreading disinformation and cyberattacks in Ukraine.

The country's sanctions list already includes dozens of citizens and organizations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, members of the State Duma, the Federation Council and the country's Security Council, the country's military and economic elite. It was also replenished by the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Konashenkov, the head of the main department of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov, the general director of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Oleg Dobrodeev, the president of the Defense Ministry's Krasnaya Zvezda media holding Alexei Pimanov and the co-founder of the NewsFront news site Mikhail Sinelin.